Paramount Pictures

Being a big fan of movies, I toured Paramount Pictures during my recent trip to Los Angeles. Here are some pictures from the studio:

Here is the current main gate for Paramount Pictures on Melrose Ave:

This is the original studio gate, prior to the expansion up to Melrose Ave:

Before the studio expansion, people would form long lines up to this door hoping to land a part in an upcoming movie:

One of the benches used in Forrest Gump:

The lobby of the Paramount Theater. This was used as a hotel lobby in Clear and Present Danger:

Inside the Paramount Theater. This is a movie theater on the Paramount lot that’s used to show pre-screenings of movies and for directors and executives to watch portions of their ongoing products. I sat in the “director’s seat,” the same seat used by Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, and others to screen their projects.

The previews for Paranormal Activity that showed audience reactions were actually recorded in this theater. Those reactions weren’t staged, they were genuine reactions to people watching a pre-screening of the movie:

Behind this bay window is Alfred Hitchcock’s old office:

A view of Hitchcock’s window. The path leads to the writers’ hall; the building where staff writers would work on screenplays:

The brick building on the left is Lucille Ball’s old office. The next brick building (near center) is the office of Desi Arnaz. When the two split up, Lucille had concrete poured where the front door was, with all of Desi’s belongings still inside. A new door had to be constructed for him to get his stuff out:

The famous Hollywood sign hangs over a working movie studio:

Tags: City of Angels, film, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Melrose Ave, movies, Paramount, Paramount Pictures, Paramount studios, Paramount theater, studio